Dennis Lehane movies have only been making their way to the big screen within the last decade, but boy have they had an impact. Clint Eastwood was the first one responsible, directing the 2003 Academy Award-winning thriller Mystic River, and then that was then followed by Ben Affleck's amazing Gone Baby Gone and then Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island in 2010. It's been an amazing run so far, and here's hoping that director Michel Roskam can keep the trend running.

Variety says that Roskam is now in talks to replace Limitless director Neil Burger on Animal Rescue, a Boston set crime drama written based on one of Lehane's short stories. As previously reported, the story follows a bartender who discovers a discarded puppy in a garbage can and rescues him. Unfortunately in this world no good deed is left unpunished, and the protagonist finds himself targeted by "the dog's abusive and mentally unstable former owner, while simultaneously getting caught in the middle of a criminal conspiracy playing out in his mob-controlled bar." The author of the story wrote the script himself.

But that's not all. While nothing has been set in stone, executives behind the movie are trying to get Tom Hardy - one of the most sought after stars of the moment - to star in the movie. The trade notes that Hardy is a known animal lover and could be enticed by the opportunity to work with Roskam, who turned a lot of heads with steroid drama Bullhead from 2011. The Belgium-made drama was nominated in the Oscar's Best Foreign Language category, but it ended up losing to Asghar Farhadi's A Separation. Production on the project is aiming to start early next year.

It was also recently announced that Affleck will be returning to direct another one of Lehane's books as his next film, this time choosing the title Live by Night. Find out more about that movie HERE.